Bin Laden, Tornadoes, and Tsunamis~by Mart De Haan

Today US forces are claiming victory in the death of Osama Bin Laden. His body, according to government forces, has been buried at sea.

The New York Daily News is marking the event with the headline "ROT IN HELL".Yet, for all of the celebratory drinks that will be downed today, and as good and needful as it is for dangerous people to be stopped, this could be a sobering moment for followers of Christ.

On one hand, the Scriptures say that God has no pleasure in the death of the wicked (Ezekiel 33:11). So the angels in heaven probably aren't smiling today the way they do when one lost person has a change of heart and finds life (Luke 15:7). In addition, who can rightly suppose that the world is now a safer place? We still are living with a real Satan, his invisible legions, and countless sympathizers who are unknowingly playing into the greatest of all rebellions (2Tim 2:24-24; James 3:6). We still have catastrophic acts of nature that insurance companies call acts of God.

And how will the death of the elusive leader of Al Qaeda give comfort to those among us who have been left with the wreckage and loss of one of the most devastating outbreaks of tornadoes in our nation's history? How will the people of Japan view this breaking news as they contemplate the aftermath of the earthquake, tsunami, and nuclear disasters that have claimed 20,000 loved ones?

On top of and beyond all of this, we are also left with another strange and disturbing fact. The same losses that prompt some to want to curse God and die, cause others to fall on their knees and find life.

Yet, my guess is that if any of us had a chance to be God for a day we wouldn't choose to knowingly let terrorists, tornadoes, earthquakes, and tsunamis (and countless other acts of evil and destruction) multiply loss, and inconsolable grief.

But imagine, for a moment what would happen to the spirituality of the world, if nothing bad were allowed to happen for one year... if all danger was suddenly lifted... and if all fear was suddenly gone...

We've only lived a few years, and yet how many stories could we tell about how the best times in our lives brought us to our knees... and kept us there?

Have also been thinking about what to make of the fact that God allowed Satan to use a windstorm to break Job's heart and to test his faith...before the LORD, himself, finally spoke out of another violent storm... to bring Job to a place of surrender and peace (Job 1:19 ; 38:1)